News

Tacoma, WA - TCC Baseball took on Lower Columbia on Thursday and Centralia over the weekend in matchup of Western Division foes. The Titans had a 6-4 comeback victory at Lower Columbia and swept all four games against Centralia by the scores of 7-0 and 6-0 in Centralia and 5-2 an 2-1 at Tacoma.

Against Lower Columbia, a Connor Cloyd RBI single tied the game at 3 in the 9th. TCC would break the tie with 3 more runs in the 12th to take a 6-3 lead. Ryota Kowai would pick up the win in relief of starter Joey Gamache, who went 9 innings while giving up 3 runs on only 5 hits. Derik Bontempo led the offense with 3 hits. Riding the momentum of an emotional extra innings win, the Titans next challenge in front of them was the Centralia Trailblazers.

The pitchers would set the tone for the series starting with Justin Vernia's shutout win in game 1. Vernia allowed only 2 hits over 8 innings while striking out 5 improving his record to 7-0 on the season. Brett Nielsen headed the offense with 2 hits and 3 RBI's.

Starter Patrick Bernard would pick up in game 2 where Vernia left off in game 1, with another shutout victory. Going 6 strong innings, Bernard limited the Trailblazer bats to only 4 hits to go with his 6 strikeouts. Nielsen and Jeremy Spring each contributed 2 hits each as the Titans rolled to a 6-0 win.

After Sunday was rained out, both teams matched up on Monday. The game stayed scoreless until the 4th inning when the Titans pushed 2 runs across for a 2-0 lead. Quinn Eldridge would give TCC 6 strong innings in the start limiting Centralia to 2 runs, with only 1 run being earned. Stephen White would relive Eldridge and go 3 scoreless innings to preserve the 5-2 win. Pitcher Joey Gamache, in the DH role, would lead the offense with 2 hits.

Going for the sweep, Chris Kerwood made his Titan debut on the mound and had a strong start. He only allowed 3 hits with the only run being unearned through 4 innings, while on a pitch count. Ryota Koiwai threw 3 shutout innings to close the game and earned his 8th save of the season. The offense hit some balls hard but were limited to only 4 hits in the 2-1 victory.

"Our pitching showed this weekend why it continues to be the key to our success," explained Head Coach Ryan Mummert. "Giving up only 3 runs, with 2 of those being unearned, over four games is quite a weekend. We have put ourselves in a good position so hopefully we can capitalize and continue to ride this momentum into our next series as we prepare for a challenge against a quality opponent in Lower Columbia."

The Titans(32-1, 17-0), winners of 27 in a row, will next be home Saturday for a doubleheader taking on Lower Columbia starting at 1pm.